Tom Yam Kung

Ingredients: (serving 4)

Tom Yam Soup(see attached recipe)	500 grams
Fresh tiger prawns (21-25 count/kilogram)	8 each
Lemongrass, finely sliced	50 grams
Torn kaffir lime leaves (each leaf torn into 4 pieces without center stem)	4 each
Fresh Thai chili peppers	8 each
Coriander leaves, picked	4 grams
Straw or champignon mushrooms, Halved or quartered	100 grams
Fresh whole limes	4 each

Directions:

• Bring the Tom Yam Soup stock to boil, add lemongrass.
• Add mushrooms, tiger prawns (shrimps), torn kaffir lime leaves and hot chili peppers.
• Correct seasoning with fish sauce for saltiness and lime juice for sourness according to taste.

Correct Characteristics of Good Tom Yam Kung:

Aroma : Lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves and shrimp Color : Clear Tom Yam soup, becomes slightly cloudy when lime juice is added. Taste : Sourness leads the sweetness of the soup, followed by saltiness. Character : Well-cooked lemongrass, tender shrimps, well-cooked mushrooms Note : Overcooked shrimps become hard and rubbery. So, do not overcook but add shrimps to the soup last.

Cooking Tips:

• The lemon grass should be soaked in lime water (1 cup water and 2 teaspoons lime juice) after being sliced to ensure good color (prevent oxidation).
• Add the lemongrass and fish sauce in boiling liquid for best aroma
• Choose only mature kaffir lime leaves. Old leaves have an overpowering aroma while young leaves are very mild.
• The hot chili peppers should be added last to avoid making the soup too hot.
• Use medium heat for cooking to ensure a pleasant color and aroma
• If fresh chili peppers are not available, use ground dried Thai chili peppers instead (1 teaspoon).

Basic Stock Recipes for all Soups

Ingredients:

Water	3 liters
Lean chicken carcass, cut into large pieces	1 kilogram
Coriander roots, crushed	30 grams
Shallots, peeled and crushed	100 grams
Lemon grass stalk, cleaned, crushed and cut into 2-inch pieces	1 each

Directions:

• Bring water to boil in a stock pot, add chicken carcass. Bring back to boil.
• Once boiling, add coriander roots and crushed shallots.
• Bring back to boil, lower the heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Strained ready for use.

Tom Yam Stock Base

Ingredients:

Chicken stock	1.5-2 liters
Fish sauce	6 tablespoons
Lime juice	6 tablespoons
Whole hot chili peppers	8 each

Directions:

• Bring stock to boil.
• Add fish sauce and lime juice while the liquid is boiling.
• Add fresh Thai chili peppers. (optional, can always add later when making the Tom Yam Kung)

Eating Culture:

1. Thai food is eaten family style, where all kinds of dishes including soups, curries etc. are placed in the middle of a dining table and served with serving spoons. Each person is given a plate of rice and all can choose what to eat with rice according to their taste. According to the Thai traditional style, Tom Yam Kung can be eaten with the main meal rather than the first course.
2. To make it Western eating style, Tom Yam Kung can be served as a soup course, but you may want to adjust the spiciness in the soup by reducing the amount of fresh chili peppers used.
3. At all times, the soup should be served piping hot

How to Serve:

• Divide Tom Yam soup, and its content into 4 equal portions and put in serving bowls.
• Top each boil with coriander leaves. Serve with a wedge of lime for the customer to adjust the sourness to his or her own liking.

Recipe Variations:

If desired, fish, chicken meat, or pork legs (grilled and boiled until tender first) can be used in place of shrimps while Tom Yam Tofu or Tom Yam Mushroom substituting soy sauce or salt for fish sauce is suitable for vegetarians. Noodles can be added to Tom Yam Kung as well. To make creamy Tom Yam Kung according to a modern recipe, add little chili paste (15 grams or 1 tablespoon per 500 grams or two cups of chicken stock) to boiling Tom Yam Soup. If desired, little milk or cream can be added to Tom Yam Soup for creamy taste.

Tom Yam Nam Prik Pao

Tom Yam Kung with chili paste (Nam Prik Pao) added to it The recipe uses the additional chili paste added to the recipe which makes the soup tastes a little sweeter and richer. The color of the soup also changes to red with oil patches floating on the surface. Picture

Tom Yam Nam Khon

Tom Yam Kung with milk or cream added to it This recipe in addition to the chili paste cream or milk is added to the soup, to make it richer.

Tom Yam Ma Prao On

Tom Yum Kung cooked with young coconut meat The flesh and juice of a young coconut is added to the soup. The soup smells of coconut and represents another way of preparing Tom Yam.

Tom Yam Kah Moo, Tom Yam Fresh Ham

Fresh Ham meat is grilled to get rid of the hairs on the skin. Then bring to boil and simmer until very tender. Pieces of tender ham are added to the Tom Yam stock and prepared the same way as Tom Yam Kung. Galangal (Kah) may be added to the soup to enhance the scent of the Tom Yam.

Tom Yam Tofu or Mushrooms

Good for vegetarians. Seasoned with soy sauce instead of fish sauce Only mushrooms and tofu are used, also glass noodles (Woon Sen) can be added to the soup. To make this vegetarian Tom Yam, omit fish sauce for saltiness and use vegetable stock instead. Use soy sauce instead of fish sauce for saltiness.

Ba Mee Tom Yam or Guitiew Tom Yam

Tom Yam with Noodles Ba Mee is Chiness eggnoodles. Just cook the noodles and add to various versions of Tom Yam. Some noodle Tom Yam recipes call for crushed peanuts and chili paste.

Name Derivative of Tom Yam Kung:

Tom Yam was named after its cooking method :

Tom = Boil Yam = sour and spicy salad Tom Yam = sour spicy boiled liquid

Nutritional and Medicinal Properties of Herbs used in Tom Yam Kung:

Coriander Roots (Cilantro Roots) or Rak Pak Chee (in Thai):

Coriander root is an important ingredient in soup and curry mixtures. It is also used in stewing soup stocks and most meat preparation.
It aids digestion, prevents constipation, cures scurry, pellagra and beriberi, increases appetite and relieves cold symptoms.

Coriander Leaves (Cilantro Leaves) or Bai Pak Chee (in Thai):

Tom Yam, Tom Kha, soups and salads require coriander leave as a flavorful and colorful garnish. It aids digestion, prevents constipation, cures scurry, pellagra and beriberi, increases appetite and relieves cold symptoms.

Shallots (Hom Lek or Hom Daeng (in Thai)) :

It gives sweet flavor and scent to the soup or stock. It aids digestion, relives cold symptoms, increases appetite, and regulates menstruation.

Lemongrass or Ta Krai (in Thai):

The lemongrass in Tom Yam Kung not only serves as a flavouring agent and helps balance the flavour, but also acts as carminative in addition to containing calcium. It improves the shrimp flavor, gives a well balanced taste to the liquid when being chewed on, and offers a medicinal value in aiding digestion. Lemon grass is a good source of fiber, iron and B-vitamins.
Lemon grass aids digestion, relieves stomach pain, increases urine production, relieves gall stone problems and high blood pressure.

Chili Peppers or Prik Kee Nu (in Thai):

These small fresh Thai chili peppers whose essential oil and flavors give the characteristic hot taste and aroma of Thai cooking. It is the star ingredient of most dishes. Almost any dish will taste better with a small addition of these tiny hot peppers. Tom Yam and Tom Kha cannot be made without them.
This kind of herb relieves diarrhea, stimulates digestion, the heat increases blood flow to taste buds and thus increases appetite, relieves infection, dissolves blood clot and prevents intestinal cancer.

Kaffir Lime Leaves or Bai Ma Krood (in Thai):

Kaffir lime leaf is a major ingredient of Tom Yam, Tam Kha, and all kinds of Thai curry which gives good aroma of Thai cooking. It aids digestion and relieves stomachache.

Lime or Manao (in Thai):

Lime juice is an ingredient in Yam (Thai salad), Tom Yam and Kaeng Som (Thai sour curry) and as beverage. It relieves coughs, sore throat, swollen gum, tooth bleeding, constipation, dizziness, the lack of Vitamin C, and phlegm.

Note: Please turn to the section on the nutritional and medicinal properties and applications of Thai herbs.